Pt6: Spirit Walkers: Abraham's Example

February 25, 2018            NOTES NOT EDITED
Spirit Walkers: The Example of Abraham

Galatians 3:6-9

Sermon-in-a-Sentence:  Faith—absolute trust in the saving work of God through Jesus Christ—has always been the “only” way any person has been or is saved.

Among the ancient patriarchs of the faith, Abraham was a giant.  This week, a modern giant of the faith passed from this life to the next.  Billy Graham, called America’s Pastor, left this earth for a new home in heaven. Much will be said about Billy Graham in the days to come, because much can be said. The modern world has never known a man like Billy Graham with influence spanning the globe and spanning nearly eight decades.  Of all that will be said of Billy Graham, nothing is more important than his faith in God—a faith exactly the same as Abraham’s.  Billy said much about the day of his death, and the absolute confidence he had in God and Christ.  Billy once said as the year began piling up on him,

“I think about heaven a great deal.  I think about the failures in my life in the past but know they have been covered by the blood of Christ.  And that gives me a great sense of confidence. I have a certainty about eternity that is a wonderful thing, and I thank God for giving me that certainty.  I do not fear death.  I may fear a little bit about the process, but not death itself, because I think the moment that my spirit leaves this body, I will be in the presence of the Lord.”

Every Spirit Walker that has ever walked this earth has walked by faith.  In the Book of Hebrews, we have a whole list of “Spirit Walkers who walked by faith.”  And, this is only a representative list.  Hebrews 11:32 tells us that, “Time is too short to tell about every Spirit Walker who walked by faith.”

Twenty-four times in Hebrews 11, the word, “faith” appears.  In regard to Abraham, we read these verses:

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he was going.  ⁹ By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise.  ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

By grace we are saved through faith, and by faith we serve in our world.  The Bible tells us of the ancient Spirit Walkers:  Abel walked by faith and gave God a pleasing sacrifice; Enoch walked by faith and stepped right out of Mesopotamia into Glory; Noah walked by faith and saved all of mankind; Abraham walked by faith from his home in Ur to a land he could not even imagine.  The Book of Hebrews tells us Sarah walked by faith; Jacob walked by faith; Joseph walked by faith; Moses walked by faith; Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, the prophets, and a host of other ancient Spirit Walkers walked by faith accomplishing impossible and unimaginable feats of faith.  Spirit Walkers walking by faith stood before lions and were not eaten, stood in the fire and were not burned, attacked with swords and not cut, were tortured and not defeated, mocked and whipped but not deterred, imprisoned but never enslaved.  Ancient Spirit Walkers were stoned, sawed in half, run through with swords, wandered destitute in goatskins, mistreated and afflicted in every way but never did the flame of their faith flicker or go out!

Abraham, is the quintessential Spirit Walker and the supreme example for all Spirit Walkers today.  He is called the “Father of Faith.”  As God’s Spirit Walkers today, we can be—we should be; we must be—examples of what it means to be “saved by grace and walk by faith.”  Abraham serves as our example of what be justified by grace and walking in faith is all about. 

In our previous section here in Galatians, Paul justified the doctrine of justification by pointing to the “supernatural experience” that characterizes every true believer.  In our text this morning Paul justifies the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone by presenting the example of the great “Father of Our Faith,” Abraham.  Paul presents his argument by showing that the same faith that saves us today and enables us to live righteous live is the same faith that saved Abraham and every Old Testament saint of God.  Through the life of Abraham Paul describes justification using three comparisons with the life of the great saint, Abraham.  We share the SAME FAITH, with the SAME FOUNDATION, that has the SAME FUNCTION, and we share the SAME FUTURE, as Abraham and other righteous Spirit Walkers.

Our lesson this morning defends the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone by turning to the example of Abraham who is called the “Father of Faith.”

We see four comparisons between Abraham’s faith and ours.  We share the Same FAITH, with the SAME FOUNDATION that has the Same FUNCTION, and it leads to the Same FUTURE.

1.  The Same Faith (6-7)

6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness,  7 then understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons.

 “Credited (reckoned, counted)” translates the word,  logizomai.  It refers to something being Issued,  but not activated.  Salvation was issued at the moment of Abraham’s faith; and then activated at the moment of Christ’s death and resurrection.  This is similar to how we use credit today.  We obtain something that is not yet paid for in full.  Your sermon notes provide more information in that regard.

This must not be seen as a “quid pro quo” situation in which Abraham gives God faith and God rewards Him with justification, or salvation.  Faith is not a “work” of man.  Eph. 2:8-9 makes it clear that salvation is by grace through faith “and NOT of works.”

 In our time-centered existence faith proceeds our salvation in the same way the presence of electricity proceeds light in a room.  When a switch is activated the light comes on after to switch is flipped.  That is a logical relationship—a cause leads to an effect.  But, the flipping of the switch does not precede the electricity temporally.  The electricity was always there—it was provided long before the switch was flipped.  The work to bring light was a matter of the available electricity, not the flipping of the switch.  This is an incomplete analogy as all analogies are, but it demonstrates that the cause for the light in the room was the unseen, ever-present availability of electricity.  While faith may appear to logically precede our faith, it does not temporally precede it.  Faith is provided by God BEFORE any flipping of the switch.

Philippians 1:27-30 further clarifies that even the faith we use to receive justification is “granted” as a gift of grace by God.  The wording in the Greek of this passage is very specific and directly demonstrates faith is “graced” (granted, given, bestowed) to us in order to believe.  Look carefully at this passage:

²⁷ Just one thing: Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, working side by side for the faith that comes from the gospel, ²⁸ not being frightened in any way by your opponents.  This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your deliverance —and this is from God. ²⁹ For it has been given to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him.

The key phrase being, “It (that is the faith evidenced by their courage) has been given (lit., “graced”) to you . . . to believe in Him.”  In the same way that “suffering is a gift,” faith is also a gift of grace.

Remember Paul asking the question earlier, Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? (3:2).  Again and again, Paul hits this note that salvation “from beginning to end is a matter of receiving, by grace, the free gift of eternally life.”  Works follow faith.  Faith is not a work of righteousness.

It is absolutely essential to an understanding of salvation, or justification by grace alone through faith alone, that one realize “faith,” is itself a gift of grace.  We receive grace like a light bulb receives electricity.  Light, or righteous living, is the natural result of faith.

There are two testaments in our Bible but only one plan of salvation:  “salvation, or justification, by grace through faith in Christ alone.”  There is no other way and no other Savior.  All those who are saved, that is, justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, are justified by the SAME FAITH as Abraham and all other saints.

Abraham “believed” God before he “did” anything for God—Before   he was circumcised, before he left his home for the promised land, and before he sacrificed Isaac.  Belief always precedes action in regard to justification (Jam. 2:3).

It is important to point out that Abraham was never “under the Law.”  The Law had not yet come into being.  In a sense, the Law does not exist today, for Jesus completely fulfilled the Law bringing it to an absolute conclusion.  One ancient writer puts it thusly, “for as then it was not yet given, so now, having been given, it was abrogated.”

But, this is not a sufficient way to preface the issue of the Law in regard to justification by grace alone through faith alone.  Whether the Law existed or not, is only one aspect.  The fact must always be kept in mind that the purpose of the Law was NEVER intended to bring a person to justification.  Justification has always been a matter of “faith.”  The Greek word translated, “believed, have faith, or faith” is used five times in three verses.  Justification is a matter of “faith.”

So, let’s take a moment to define and describe “faith” effectively. Our word, “believe,” is a very poor translation for the Greek word, pisteuo (pis-too-oh).  The English word, “believe,” generally refers to a “mental, or intellectual activity.”  The Greek word for “faith” includes the intellectual aspect but piles upon the mere mental assent the full weight of one’s will and emotions.  Our word trust is more closely a synonym for pisteuo, than the word, believe.  One respected dictionary of N.T. Greek gives this definition of pisteuo, “to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance” (Louw Nida).  Understood in this way, the word, “believe,” can be an accurate representation of what it means to “have faith.” 

Many times, Biblical words can best be understood by how they relate to other words with the same root.  We have already seen this with the word, “justification.”  Justification can better be understood by its relationship with the English word, “righteousness.”  These words share the same root.  Justification is the initiation of a process that culminates, or results in “righteous living.”  Likewise, belief and faith share a similar relationship when the full range of the word, pisteuo, is analyzed.  Belief, a mental assent to a set of facts and propositions is one component of salvation where as “having faith,” or “faithing” is the other side.  A person who truly believes Jesus Christ is the Lord, the Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, will demonstrate that belief by faithful living.  We have visited James 2:18 several times in this regard but it will be helpful to pay yet another visit.

¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”  Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works.  ^{d 19} You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.

Notice that the idea of “believing” is used in its full range in verse 19.  There is a believing that is “with faith” and a believing that is wholly demonic and “without” faith, or trust.

There are two sure ways to shoot at the goal of salvation and miss the target altogether.  One, you can try to “live by the Law” and hope to gain eternal life on your own merit.  This will fail both miserably and eternally.  The other way to shoot at the target of salvation and miss miserably is to substitute an intellectual ideas or ritualistic practices for a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ based upon a complete and total trust in Him as Lord and Savior—that is, to “have faith.” We cannot “work” our way to heaven and we cannot “think” our way to heaven.  We must “trust” our way to heaven.

From Genesis to Revelation there has only ever been one pathway to eternal life—faith—a full, complete, confident trust in Who Jesus is and what He did for us when He died on the cross.  While our Bibles have two testaments there has always been only one “way of salvation”—grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

2.  The Same Foundation (8a)

⁸ Now the Scripture saw in advance.

In our first sermon from chapter 3, we saw how our “supernatural experiences” justify our salvation.  Gal. 3:5 says, “God [does] supply you with the Spirit and work miracles  among you by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? 

Spirit Walkers begin with a supernatural experience and these experiences continue throughout our walk of faith.  They come in many ways from visions, to dreams, to a prophetic word, or other operations of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The Word of God speaks often of “miraculous” experiences in the life of believers. 

I believe in miracles.  We saw how miraculous, supernatural experiences justify our justification by grace through faith.  We must, however, always subject any experience to the scrutiny of Scripture.  One passage admonishes us in this way (1Jn. 4:1):

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits  to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

We have mentioned the “Five Solas” which laid the foundation for the Reformation and provide the superstructure for our understanding the doctrine of salvation.  The “Five Solas” (sola being Latin  for “alone”) are:  Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, Scripture Alone, to the Glory of God Alone.  (Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Christus, Sola Scriptura, and Soli Deo Gloriam).  These were birthed in the Reformation but would be expanded and defined through the 20^th century. 

These “solae” (solas, Anglicized) were in response to the practice of the Catholic Church which added human works to the doctrine of salvation.  The Reformers reacted with the solas.

Each of the solas stand on equal footing theologically.  They form a comprehensive whole.  Sola Scriptura is unique in that it is through “Scripture alone” that we have the written will of God for our lives, immutable and indisputable.  Through Sola Scriptura we understand the other solas.  Scripture is the rule, or measure (canon, “reed”) by which experience is measured and salvation is understood.  It is the Scripture that gives us the basis for the doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. This does not mean that “salvation is not without reasonable foundations.”  Paul addresses the logical aspect of justification by grace alone through faith alone in his next sermon.

Without Scripture, our experiences can deceive us and our reason will disappoint us.  Paul shows here in this passage that Scripture is no mere collections of human anecdotes and philosophical analysis.  Scripture is “supernatural.”  Notice Paul says in verse 8:

“The Scripture foresaw (NIV).”  The word “foresaw” (HCSB, saw in advance) demonstrates the supernatural nature of the Bible that not only records what happened but “what WILL happen.” Prophecy is the most significant way in which the supernatural nature of the Bible can be seen.  What else but the “Supernatural,” could account for Daniel looking down the telescope of the future and predicting the death of Jesus 483 years in the future? (Dan. 9:24-27).

You will notice that the word, “Scripture,” is being used metaphorically, or anthropomorphically, as a “Person” taking action, “forseeing.”  This is not accidental or merely stylistic.  This is common in Jewish thought. The Scriptures contain the very Essence, or breath of the Person of God.  They are not mere written records.  They are the very “breath” of God (2Tim. 3:16). They are “life itself.”  God “personally” manifests Himself through Scripture.

Jn. 6:63  The Spirit  is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

While Abraham did not have the “written” word of God, the foundation for His faith was the “spoken” word of God.  The words, “told the good news (gospel) ahead of time to,” translate a single word in the Greek. The foundation for the saving faith of Abraham is the same as the saving faith for us today, “the Word of God, or Scriptures.”

3.  The Same Function (8b)

We are called to “be a blessing to all nations.” 

(1)  The strategy of our faith is “blessing others.”

A faith that doesn’t bless others doesn’t glorify God.  A faith that gets stuck in our own heart stinks in the nostrils of God.   We shouldn’t “hide our light under a basket,” but in fact we not only hide our light under a basket, we put the basket in the closet and lock the door!

FANAFI.  Anybody remember that word?  I’ve preached on it twice in the last nine years.  It stands for, “F A Need And Fill It!”  The world doesn’t care what we know, until it knows we care.  Our dear Brother James explains this for us:

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can his faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it?  ¹⁷ In the same way faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.  ¹⁸ But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.”  Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith from my works.  ^{d 19} You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe—and they shudder.

These are strong words—even harsh words if we are not living out the faith we have been given.  They are true words.  They are important words.  A beloved preacher pointed out the tragedy of faith that doesn’t work, when he said, “We need to be careful that the living faith of the dead doesn't become the dead faith of the living”

(V. Havner). 

John 3:16 is a well-known verse:  “For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Many church-goers know “Who” saved them—“For God . . .”  Most church-goers know “Why” God saved them, “He so loved the world.” But precious few church-goers live as if they have any understanding of “What” they were saved for.  We were not saved to go to heaven, but saved to bring heaven to earth!  The Great Commission does not say, “Come to church,” but it says, “Go into all the world.”  Go, be a blessing.  That’s WHAT faith is for.  That’s the purpose of faith.

I have often felt God leading me to buy a big house with maybe five rooms.  This house would be a place where someone who is homeless could live, rent free while they go through a discipleship and training program.  Over the course of a year they would be assisted in finding a job and then finding a place of their own. We could not help every homeless person, but we could help some.

(2)  The scope of our faith is reaching “all nations.”  Faith is a “big tool” for a “big job.” We are called to bless all the nations, and we can’t even seem to function well enough to bless our own community!  Faith’s work is not finished until all the nations have been preached to and reached (Matt. 24:14):

¹⁴ This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations.  And then the end will come.

Perhaps that’s the strategy of most churches—keep the nations from hearing the gospel, and it will keep judgment from coming.  We can keep on living our lives our way for our pleasure.  But, it doesn’t work that way.  Death has a way of putting an abrupt end to such a selfish strategy.  We will all stand before God and give an account of how we used the faith He gave us to “reach all the nations.”

We share the same faith as Abraham.  Our faith has the same foundation.  Our faith has the same “function.”  We must “be a blessing to the nations.”  We, however, have an even greater responsibility than Abraham.  We must reach even higher than the O.T. saints because we are standing on the shoulders of spiritual giants.  “I can’t” should never cross the lips of a blood-bought, Spirit-filled, faith-living Spirit Walker.

3.  The Same Future (9)

Our text not only calls us to “be a blessing” but also to “receive a blessing.”

⁹ So those who have faith are blessed with Abraham, who had faith.

Gymnast Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas became the first African-American to win the Olympic gold medal as individual all-around champion when she was 16 years old, at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012.  She is incredibly talented.  She is incredibly gracious and humble also.  She said this shortly after winning her gold medal:

“I give all the glory to God.  It’s kind of a win-win situation.  The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me.”

“The blessings fall down!”  I don’t think she was only thinking of the fame and fortune which follows becoming an Olympic Gold Medal Winner.  Material blessings are nice, and Abraham had them a plenty; but the real blessings are more than tangible, temporary stuff. The ultimate blessing is heaven!  This is why the “Roll Call of the Faithful” in Hebrews 11 we read earlier says this about Abraham:

10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Spirit Walkers are “long range thinkers.”  We do everything with an eye toward eternity. 

What do you do if your net worth is 124 billion dollars?  You build a 10,000 year clock inside a mountain.  Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, has been working on this project for six years with Danny Hillis who first conceived of the clock in 1989.  The minute hand ticks once a year.  The hour hand moves every 100 years; and the Cuckoo comes out every 1000 years.  The clock is designed to be a symbol of “long range thinking.”

Well, I can’t think of anything longer to think about than “eternity.”  That’s what we continue to reflect on as we move through the Book of Galatians learning what it means to be Spirit Walkers.  We need to be “long range thinkers,” seeking eternal blessings like Abraham.

A Spirit Walker walks by faith just like Abraham.  We share the same faith, based on the same foundation, and with the same function.  Just like Abraham, we are called to “be a blessing to all nations.”  By living our faith, and sharing our faith with others, not only are THEY blessed, but WE are blessed, and God gets all the glory.  It is the ultimate “win-win-win” situation.

Justification leads to being “born-again.”  It is the initiation of the process of salvation that moves through sanctification (righteous living) and glorification (eternal bliss forever in heaven).  While the same saving faith is “available” to all persons, only the faith of those who have been “justified” (made righteous in God’s sight) by grace through complete trust in God, have that “available” faith, “activated.”  “Many are called; few are chosen” (Mt. 22:14).

⁶ Consider Abraham: “He believed God [had faith in God], and it was credited to him as righteousness (Gal. 3:6, NIV).

Three times in the Bible we find the words, “The just (or righteous) shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). 

Justification initiates a walk of faith and that walk of faith takes us all the way to the Pearly Gates of the Heavenly City.  That is the FUTURE that Abraham looked forward to, and we share that same future as Abraham’s sons and daughters when, as Spirit Walkers, we walk by faith.

Spirit Walkers follow Abraham’s example of faith.

Pt5-Spirit Walkers: Justified by Experience

February 11, 2018              NOTES NOT EDITED
Spirit Walkers:  Justified By Experience

Galatians 3:1-5

Sermon-in-a-Sentence:  The experiences of a Spirit Walker who is saved by grace through faith alone demonstrates the power and efficacy of justification.

In these five verses Paul asks six questions, and only makes one statement.  The statement he makes is in verse 1:  You foolish Galatians!

The rest of the passage includes a series of questions that are more or less rhetorical because the answer should be obvious to a true believer.  In this section, Paul defends and explains justification as an experience with God.  Justification begins with an experience with the Living Lord, Jesus Christ, and continues as we experience a moment by moment relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.  Spirit Walkers . . . have had a life-transforming experience with the Living Lord, and that sets us on a path in which God interacts with us through each and every passage of our lives.

Paul describes this justifying experience looking at four ways grace interacts with our lives, and God intersects with our experiences.  First, our life experience involves:

1.  Seduction: how by grace we experience Protection (3:1)

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

We all experience temptation of varying kinds.  Paul refers to the Galatians as being “foolish” because they have been so easily “seduced, hypnotized, or bewitched” by false teachers.  This serves as a strong warning that the Devil is always lurking in the shadows to “trick, deceive, or bewitch” Spirit Walkers.

The word translated, “foolish,” has both a moral component and a mental component.  The moral component is probably most in view here.  The Galatians were not “seduced” because there was an “intellectual” problem with the gospel.  The reasonableness of the biblical account is as solid as any other truth that we have at our disposal.  The word, foolish refers to both a bluntness in one’s mental activity and also a “hardness” of one’s heart to the things of God.  One writer says this:  “It refers not to bluntness but to a sinful neglect to use one’s mental power to the best advantage” (Baker NT Comm)

Look how Paul describes the reliability of the gospel truth:  ¹Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 

The evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most verified historical fact of ancient history.  Generations of public school students have been conditioned to react against anything that is not “scientific.”  Science cannot “prove” any historical event.  Science, by design and definition, can only prove that which is “repeatable” in a laboratory.  There is much more “truth” beyond the grasp of science.  But, our students—with the assistance of their complicit parents—have been “seduced” by public schooling.

Yet, Paul argues rightly that the evidence for the Galatians’ experience with the Risen Christ was indisputable.

The problem with the Galatians, as with all those who rebel against Yahweh, is “moral,” not “intellectual.”  It is a problem with the “heart” not the “mind.”  Consider Eve in the garden of Eden.  She was seduced by the subtle, sneaky temptations of the serpent, not appealing to her intellect, but to her emotions and pride.  Gen. 3:6:

⁶ Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom.

We are “experiential” creatures.  God made us that way.  We not only have the powers of intellect, but we have emotions and will.  We can “enjoy” life and make independent decisions.  These are great gifts—but with freedom comes responsibility, and with responsibility comes the risk of failure.

We must constantly be on guard to make sure that we are not “subtly” seduced by the temptation to act against the best evidence God has given us—the resurrection of Jesus Christ Our Lord.  We must not allow ourselves to be bewitched, beguiled, or hypnotized by subtle, sneaky errors that abound in our world.

By grace, God has given us PROTECTION against the evil designs of the Devil.  We have the clear evidence of God’s Word to guide us through the experiences of life.  The Galatians had irrefutable evidence of God’s grace because “before their very eyes Jesus Christ was vividly portrayed as crucified” on their behalf.  The word, “portrayed” describes something “advertised in large letters,” like a we might see a man on the street wearing a placard saying, “Repent!”

Grace protects us by protecting our heart and mind and validating our experience of justification.  For this to happen we must experience

2.  Submission:  how by grace we experience Direction (3:2-3)

As Paul explains the act of justification in regard to our human experience, he takes up the matter of SUBMISSION.  This is the real key to a Spirit Walkers life.  Verses 2-3 tell us:

²I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith?  ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now going to be made complete by the flesh?

These are of course, rhetorical questions.  Paul in chapters 1 and 2 has already established that we are justified by grace that begins our Spirit Walk, and we live righteously by the Spirit, not the flesh.  We start in grace, continue in grace, and we will arrive in heaven by grace—grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone.  Paul said in Col. 2:6-7:

⁶ Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, [by grace]  ^•walk in Him, [by grace] ⁷ rooted and built up in Him  and established in the faith, just as you were taught,  overflowing with gratitude. 

Paul’s second question goes to the heart of the salvation experience.  Paul asks the Galatians, “How were you saved?”  That is, by what manner or means did you become “justified” in God’s sight?  Paul goes on to outline the only TWO possibilities:  (1) a person is justified by righteous works—good deeds; or (2) a person is justified—saved, made right with God—by grace, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.  Works or grace—but not both.  Do or Done?    Which is it?

One writer expresses the choice like this:  “The Law said, “Do!” Grace says, “Done!” The Law said, “Try!” Grace says, “Trust!” The Law says, “Behave!” Grace says, “Believe! Law points to the commandments; grace points to the Christ. The weakness of the Law is the flesh; the wonder of grace is the Holy Spirit.” (J. Philips).

The essence of the Christian experience is a “choice.”  We can choose to submit to the Law and seek to “work our way to heaven,” or we can submit to the Spirit and let Him “work out our salvation on our way to heaven.”  If we submit to the Law and trust our own designs, it always brings death, destruction, and disappointment—even for a believer.  If we submit to the Spirit and trust God’s will for our lives it always leads to blessing and fulfillment.  Spirit Walkers submit to the Spirit in the experiences of life.

Life comes from Life.  In biology, this is called the “Law of Biogenesis.”  Life cannot be created.  It must come from Life that has come before—antecedent life they call it. 

The renowned scientist Louis Pasteur demonstrated that truth in his day. He held up a thoroughly sterilized and hermetically sealed flask before his audience. “It is devoid of life!” he exclaimed. “I can keep it for a hundred years, and it will still be devoid of life. I can beg and plead with it to produce a life-form, even the humblest life form, but it remains unmoved by my pleas. There is no life without antecedent life. Only life can beget life.” (J.Philips).

Spiritual life only comes from the Spirit of God.  Until one submits to God through the Holy Spirit, there is not life.  Unless one continues to submit to the Spirit in every experience, there is no life.  All the human effort in the world does not bring life. The Law brings death.  Grace brings life.  We must submit to the Spirit to experience spiritual life. 

Spirit Walkers walk in the Spirit. Justification gives our lives DIRECTION.  Spirit Walkers also experience

3.  Suffering:  how by grace we experience Consolation  (3:4)

⁴ Did you suffer so much for nothing—if in fact it was for nothing?

Recall that we learned earlier that the word translated, “suffer,” also means, “experience.”  We have already seen Paul describe the “experience” of a believer—a Spirit Walker—as involving God’s PROTECTION from seduction through temptation and God’s DIRECTION by submission to the Spirit.  In verse 4 we can consider the matter of “suffering” in the life experience of the believer.

I have complete books in my library that explore the idea of “suffering” as part of the experience of being human.  We suffer.  This is inescapable.  If you live you will experience pain—sometimes much pain.  Childbirth is surrounded and immersed in pain, and the life that follows includes pain and suffering.

The scholars debate whether Paul intends for this section (1-5) to be primarily about the specific idea of suffering, or the more general description of life as “experience.”  Regardless of how much the Galatians had “suffered” persecution by this time, they all would have experienced personal suffering.  Suffering is part and parcel of the human experience.

Paul’s emphasis is that suffering has “purpose.”  We do not experience Christ in vain, and we do not experience suffering in vain.  I like what I heard one pastor say about pain, “God never wastes our pain.”

The great Christian writer, C.S. Lewis, married late in life, and then lost the love of his life shortly thereafter to cancer.  He wrote a couple books on the experience of pain, “A Grief Observed,” and “The Problem of Pain.” 

Lewis refers to pain and suffering as, God’s megaphone.  “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

I’m sure you are aware of the block-buster film by Mel Gibson titled, “The Passion of Christ.”  The crucifixion is referred to as “passion” based upon the word for suffering, pascho, in Greek, or “passio” in Latin.  The crucifixion shows the depth of our sin by describing the enormity of Christ’s suffering.

Suffering is an integral part of the gospel story.  It is a necessary foundation for our justification.  Had Christ not suffered, the penalty (dike) would not have been paid for our sins and hell would be our destiny.

Suffering is also “integral” to our fully understanding our justification—the payment of the penalty of our sin by Christ.  God uses suffering to allow a way for us to “fellowship” with Christ in a way that cannot be experienced otherwise.  Paul says in several places that suffering fulfills God’s purpose by drawing us closer to Him through Christ.  1Peter 4:12-13 says,

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.

Do not misunderstand me.  We should never seek out suffering.  Fellowship with God is not found through seeking out suffering, but suffering fulfills God’s purpose when He seeks us out in the midst of our suffering.  In the midst of our suffering, God’s love for us is validated and His salvation is justified.  Note 1Peter 4:19:

19 Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.

Never think that while following Christ as obediently as you can that suffering is an indication that “something is wrong.”  It may be an indication that “something is very right!” 

By grace, justification is justified by giving us CONSOLATION.  The believers life intersects with the

4.  Supernatural: by grace we experience GLORIFICATION (5)

⁵ So then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Glorification is one of those “theological” words that the Protestant Church has abandoned in modern preaching.  Glorification refers to “a supernatural experience, a state of blissful happiness.” It is often referred to as beatification—but we pretty much have surrendered that word to Catholics.  In a word, glorification refers to heaven—the final stage of our salvation; also called, “glorification.”  Paul describes full flower of our salvation experience in Romans 4:30:

³⁰ And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.

By grace alone through faith alone we are justified, sanctified, and glorified.  It is a supernatural process that begins here on earth and culminates in heaven through the absolute and supernatural decree of God Almighty. 

If your relationship with Jesus Christ is not “supernatural,” then it is “superficial.”

I just recently read where the Catholic Church will bestow “beatification” or sainthood on Pope Paul VI, who died in 1978.  I will confess that most of what the Catholic Church does, including making the sign of the cross, kissing the ring of the Pope, and declaring certain people, “saints,” is just freaky.  I am not a supporter of the Catholic Church and the hundreds of traditions they have added to the biblical gospel of justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.

I bring up the idea of the beatification of Pope Paul VI because the story intersects with our text in verse 5.  Verse 5 asks the question:

⁵So then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by hearing with faith?

In order for a Pope to become a saint, he has to have performed two “verified” miracles.  Pope Paul VI did his second miracle ** years after he died!  A mother prayed to Pope Paul VI and her unborn child was supposedly healed.  Now, I believe in miracles, but I think the whole idea of Catholic sainthood is bogus nonsense!

But, Paul asked the question concerning miracles in the experience of the Galatian Christians.  Like the other six questions, this too is rhetorical—the answer, “yes,” is assumed.  Paul’s assumption is that one of the experiences of grace is that God “works miracles among you.”  This does not mean that every Christian believer will receive miracles on a daily basis, though it could be argued each heartbeat and each breath is a miracle.

What it does mean is that in the course of our life as Spirit Walkers, we will see God working in miraculous ways among His children throughout the world.

Again, I have many books that analyze and document the truth of God working miracles in our world, today, as well as in days gone by.  Why should we NOT expect supernatural events to take place in our lives as we serve a supernatural God?  Is there any greater miracle than the miracle of justification by grace alone through faith in Christ alone?

If our salvation begins supernaturally with grace in the regeneration of our dead souls, should we not assume that by grace we would continue to see God work supernaturally among us?  Paul’s rhetorical question leads us to a firm and foundational, “Yes!”

A life that is not supernatural is superficial.  The very foundation for salvation is a supernatural transformation in which God’s Spirit joins with our spirit and brings us eternally life.  Without this supernatural, spiritual experience there is not justification—there is no eternal salvation.  Paul points this out very clearly in Romans 8:9:

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you.  But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

No supernatural experience—no salvation.  Period!  Again Paul says,

Eph. 1:13-14   ¹³When you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed in Him, you were also sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.  ¹⁴He is the down payment of our inheritance, for the redemption of the possession, to the praise of His glory.

I have seen the “supernatural” played out many, many times over my ministry of going on 41 years.  I could tell you of a vision I had standing topside watch on the submarine one night.  I could tell you of a vision I had in the jungle of Guam.  I could tell you of a woman I prayed for who was dying of cancer which had riddled her body.  She is still alive over 38 years later.  I could tell you of many miracles.  I could tell you of coincidences, which are miracles in hiding.  I can tell you that the only “real Christian experience is a supernatural experience.”  If your experience with Christ is not supernatural—it is superficial; and your salvation is suspect.  Albert Einstein saw life as a miracle.  He once said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

Modern man reacts against the idea of miracles because he fancies himself to have mastered the knowledge of nature and exhausted its possibilities so that a miracle which contradicts man’s understanding of nature cannot be true.  St. Augustine argues against such a narrow view of nature or the universe in which we live.  He said, "Miracles are not in contradiction to nature. They are only in contradiction with what we know of nature."

Never forget that our ignorance is infinite.  There will always exist more than what we can know and completely comprehend.  God is supernatural, so His workings will always outdistance our natural abilities to understand.  Spirit Walkers embrace this mystery. 

Miracles are moments of GLORIFICATION when human experience intersects God’s Providence.

Let’s review what we have discovered in this, the first of Paul’s 8 sermons justifying justification by grace alone through faith alone.  We learned four ways grace intersects with our life experiences.  We learned that being justified by faith gives us PROTECTION from the SEDUCTION of false teachers.  We learned that by grace through faith alone we DIRECTION through SUBMISSION to God’s Spirit on a daily basis.  In our study of justification by grace alone we have learned we receive CONSOLATION in the experiences of SUFFERING in our Christian walk.  Finally, we observed that we participate in GLORIFICATION when the SUPERNATURAL power of God intersects our daily living.

The experiences of a Spirit Walker who is saved by grace through faith alone demonstrates the power and efficacy of justification.